Letters to Dead Authors

"Letters to Dead Authors" by Andrew Lang is a collection of fictional letters penned to famous writers who are no longer alive, where Lang talks about their lives, books, and how they've affected reading and the world. The book has letters to well-known authors like W. M. Thackeray, Charles Dickens, and Jane Austen, and Lang shares thoughtful ideas about their work in a fun way. For example, the first letter is to Thackeray, where Lang jokes about how hard it is to compliment living authors compared to dead ones. He admires how talented Thackeray was and thinks about how his books have continued to be important over time, even considering the negative things people said about Thackeray when he was still alive. Readers can expect a clever and insightful look at literary greats as Lang honors what they left behind.